Introduction
The GoMexSI database is planned to contain information on all instances of species interactions recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. Below is a list of the scope of the data content to be included. Following that list is a table of the taxa that we are currently working on and the status of that work. Data sources include published, and unpublished works, and contributed raw datasets. Finally, we present some statistics for the data extracted from references and that contributed by researchers.
Content Summary
•Large marine ecosystem approach
•Spatially explicit (GIS)
•Temporal (1881 – present and beyond)
•Web based, open access
•Multi-lingual (English/Spanish)
•Tri-national in scope (Cuba, Mexico, US)
•Habitat and environmental data (CMECS)
•Includes multiple taxa, i.e. marine mammals, fishes, sea and shore birds, reptiles, crustaceans, ctenophores, cnidarians, molluscs, etc. (see table below)
•Includes multiple interaction types, ie: predator-prey, host-parasite, mutualism, commensalism, amensalism (see table below)
Taxonomic groups included in the database model
| Taxon | Group | Number of References Identified | Number of References Collected | Number of References Processed | Total Number of Species Currently Identified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Living | |||||
| Actinopterygii / Chondrichthyes | Estuarine and Marine Sharks, Rays and Fishes | 793 | 785 | 190 | 883 |
| Annelida | Polychaete worms and Leeches | 13 | 13 | 0 | 148 |
| Arthropoda - Free Living | Crustaceans and Insects | 58 | 57 | 0 | 141 |
| Aves | Sea and Shore Birds | 58 | 55 | 0 | 31 |
| Cnidaria | Jellyfish, Box Jellies, Sea Wasps | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| Ctenophora | Comb jellies | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Echinodermata | Sea stars, Sea urchins, etc. | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Mammalia | Marine Mammals, Coastal Terrestrial Mammals | 30 | 29 | 0 | 13 |
| Mollusca | Estuarine and Marine Bivalves, Gastropods and Cephalopods | 20 | 20 | 0 | 48 |
| Reptilia | Sea Turtles, Coastal Terrestrial Reptiles | 37 | 36 | 0 | 5 |
| Parasitic | |||||
| Acanthocephala | Spiny Headed Worms | 42 | 40 | 0 | 75 |
| Arthropoda - Parasitic | Crustaceans, Isopods, etc. | 60 | 54 | 0 | 241 |
| Chromista | Diatoms with Silica Skeletons and Chlorophyll C | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Fungi | Fungi | 11 | 11 | 0 | 12 |
| Myxozoa | Parasitic Cnidarians | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Nematoda | Nematodes | 41 | 41 | 0 | 105 |
| Nemertea | Ribbon Worms or Proboscis Worms | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Platyhelminthes | Tapeworms and Flukes | 357 | 345 | 0 | 272 |
| Protozoa | Ciliated Protozoans, Hematozoans | 7 | 7 | 0 | 18 |
| Rhombozoa | Dicyemids | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
Interaction Types Included
| Interaction Type | Number of References Collected | Number of References Processed | Number of Interactions Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Predator-Prey | 1028 | 102 | 62,203 |
| Parasite-Host | 476 | 0 | 0 |
| Mutualism | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Commensalism | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Amensalism | 0 | 0 | 0 |
GoMexSI: Statistics
| Number of References Identified | 1504 |
| Number of Data References Collected | 1478 |
| Number of Data References Examined | 102 |
| Number of Raw Data Contributors | 21 |
| Number of Unique Interactors | 1,920 |
| Number of Interactions Extracted | 62,203 |
GoMexSI: Data Contributors
| Contributor | Institution/Employer | Number of Species | Number of Specimens Examined | Number of Interactions | Loaded into Database |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Ajemian | Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi | 1 | 182 | ~750 | N |
| Senol Akin | Sürmene Institute of Marine Science, Turkey | 32 | 5506 | 17328 | Y |
| John Anderson | Gulf Coast Research Laboratory | 3 | 459 | N | |
| Susan Bell | University of South Florida | N | |||
| Dana Bethea | National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 5 | 1402 | 4276 | Y |
| Dave Blewett | Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute | 1 | 694 | 1131 | Y |
| Stephen Branstatter | National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | N | |||
| Thierry Brule | Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute | 3 | 1718 | 3446 | N |
| Ross del Rio | 1 | 7 | 28 | N | |
| William Driggers | National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 1 | 24 | 8 | N |
| Marcus Drymon | University of South Alabama | 1 | 266 | 264 | N |
| Jim Franks | Gulf Coast Research Laboratory | 1 | 124 | 196 | N |
| Ana Ibanez | Universidad Autonoma de Metropolitana, Mexico | 2 | 155 | 884 | N |
| Chris Kelble | National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 4 | 39 | 122 | N |
| Bob McMichael | Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute | 5 | 180 | 1037 | Y |
| Brian Nelson | National Aquarium | 24 | 244 | 375 | N |
| Jenny Oakley | Environmental Institute of Houston, University of Houston-Clear Lake | 24 | 483 | 997 | Y |
| James Simons | Center for Coastal Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi | 56 | 5863 | 5673 | Y |
| Michael Tidwell | Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Texas State University | 3 | 2718 | 10524 | N |
| Maru Vega-Cendejas | Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute | 10 | N | ||
| Glenn Zapfe | National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | 1 | 52 | 434 | N |